Ask HN: We have no hope of digital privacy, correct?

1 points by randomnamehere 13y ago ↗ HN

After reading up on PRISM and certain privacy guards, it seem to me, we have little to no hope of digital privacy. Is that a true statement?

Sure, it's possible to encrypt our data and hide our tracks from the local coffee shop "hacker" but what about the US government? Do we just accept the inability to have some sort of digital privacy? If so, is that fact nothing more than a minor changed state of mind? We now have to admit the NSA is collecting data on us, do we just shrug our shoulders and go on with life?

2 comments

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pearjuice 13y ago ↗

Yes, as a brave citizen of the Unites States that is what is expected of you. Of course, you are free to sign a digital petition and feel like it changes something because it is on a .gov domain, but other than that, you stay put and enjoy your freedom in one of the most powerful and civilized countries known to planet Earth!

God bless America!

bifrost 13y ago ↗

Its absolutely not a true statement, but you have to consider your actions in this. Posting something to facebook/twitter will never be private. Gmail isn't private, AWS isn't private, etc.

If you want privacy, stop exposing yourself.

That said, privacy in email is easy (gpg/pgp/SMIME), privacy in browsing is easy (VPN), chatting not so hard (OTR) and there's a few other things...